RATIONALE: Comparing results of diagnostic procedures performed before, during, and after chemotherapy may help doctors predict a patient's response to treatment and help plan the most effective treatment.

Determine whether molecular markers, alone or in combination with MRI, at the time of diagnosis or early in the course of therapy, predict 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) in women with locally advanced breast cancer who are receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Identify two groups of participants who have statistically different 3-year DFS, based on 1 or more biomarkers, including MRI.

Determine whether biomarkers, in combination with MRI, early in the course of chemotherapy, improve the prediction of 3-year DFS and are at least as good of a predictor of DFS as residual disease at the time of surgery in these patients.

Determine whether molecular markers are associated with specific imaging patterns seen on MRI of these patients.

Determine the molecular predictors of lack of radiologic CR in HER-2/neu positive patients (IHC 3+ or FISH amplified > 2.0) after a neoadjuvant anthracycline-based regime followed by a taxane alone regimen or in combination with trastuzumab.

Determine the molecular predictors of complete magnetic resonance imaging radiologic response to a neoadjuvant anthracycline-based regimen when gene expression profiling is performed in a sequential, real-time fashion.

OUTLINE: This is a diagnostic, multicenter study conducted concurrently with CALGB-150012/ACRIN-6657 imaging protocol and concurrently with neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy.

Patients receive an injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine and undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast before initiation, 1-3 days after initiation, and then after completion of neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy and prior to surgery. Patients who previously received a taxane also undergo an additional contrast-enhanced MRI scan.

Patients undergo biopsies before initiation and at the time of surgery. Patients also undergo blood draws at the time of the first biopsy and prior to surgery. Serum and tissue samples are used to assess biomarkers of genetic instability, cell cycle progression and cellular proliferation as predictors for anthracycline responsiveness, markers of apoptotic potential as predictors for taxane responsiveness in vivo, angiogenesis, hormone receptors, and molecular profiles using immunohistochemical methods.

Mammograms and possibly ultrasounds are performed prior to and after chemotherapy (before surgery).

Patients are followed every 6 months for 5 years and then annually for up to 10 years.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 384 patients will be accrued for this study within 3 years.